Fish and crab trap

ABSTRACT

A basket means has a resilient mouth, cable means is attached to the basket near the mouth, and an anchor means likewise is attached to the basket near the mouth but substantially opposite the cable attachments. The cable means traverses the mouth and is loosely threaded through apertures in the anchor means.

United States Patent Rea Apr. 2, 1974 [5 FISH AND CRAB TRAP 1,959,793 51934 LaFredo et al. 43 9 [76] Inventor: Harry E. Rea, 4667 Camelot Dr.,

New Orleans 70127 Primary ExammerWarner H. Camp Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Ray & Spielman [22] Filed: May 1, 1973 [21] Appl. N0.: 356,090 [57]ABSTRACT A basket means has a resilient mouth, cable means is [52] US.Cl. 43/105 attached to the basket hear the mouth. and an anchor [51]Int. Cl A01k 69/10 means likewise is attached o the ba ket near the [58]Field of Search 43/105, 102, 100, 9, 6.5 mouth but substantially pp thca l attachments. The cable means traverses the mouth and is [56]Referen Cit d loosely threaded through apertures in the anchor UNITEDSTATES PATENTS means 1,161,186 11/1915 Butcher 43/105 6 Claims, 5Drawing Figures PATENTED'APR 2 I974 SHEET 2 [If 2 FIG. 4.

FISH AND CRAB TRAP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Obtainment of fish andcrustaceans such as crabs, crayfish, etc., has long been accomplished bythe utilization of traps. Very simple traps have been devised whichusually comprise a basket and an inwardly directed funnel. These simpletraps, however, though somewhat effective in capturing the desired prey,present difficulty in removing the caught prey and are not especiallyeffective in that entrance for the prey must be made through arestricted funnel opening.

More complicated traps which attempt to alleviate the above removal andrestriction problems have been developed. See for example, U.S. Pat. No.2,787,861, U.S. Pat. No. 2,821,047, U.S. Pat. No. 2,918,749 and U.S.Pat. No. 1,143,758. While these traps facilitate ease of removal of thecaptured prey and do not present constricted openings through which theprey must pass, their construction is highly complicated and overlyexpensive.

Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide a fish orcrustacean trap which has a large entrance thereto and which facilitatesease of removal of the captured fish, etc., all without the need ofcomplicated and expensive construction.

THE INVENTION This invention relates to a fish and crustacean trapcomprising a basket means having a mouth defined by resilient material,an anchor means connected to said basket means adjacent to said mouthand a cable means attached to said basket means adjacent to said mouthand substantially opposite said anchor means, said cable meanstraversing said mouth and passing through aperture means in said anchormeans whereby a pulling force on the passed portion of said cable meanscloses said mouth.

The basket portion of the trap of this invention may be made entirely ofresilient material, or it may be made of rigid material with only themouth portion thereof being resilient. Generally speaking, any resilientmeshed material is suitable for the trap of this invention. Commonchicken wire is especially suitable. The shape of the basket is notcritical, with square, rectangular and cylindrical shapes all beingserviceable. A preferred shape is a rectangular shape.

The anchor attached to the resilient mouth of the trap of this inventionshould be of a solid material which will aid in sinking of the trap.Metals are especially preferred with corrosion resistant metals beingmost preferred. Attaching the anchor to the basket at or near its mouthcan be achieved by any of those ways well-known to those skilled in theart for making such attachments, e.g., tying the anchor to the basketwith wire.

The shape of the anchor is preferably rectangular or cylindrical. Theanchor length should be that minimum length which will provide forpassage of the cables around or through the anchor (such passage ishereinafter described). A preferred length is one which is substantiallyequal to the width of the basket.

The cables which are attached to the basket adjacent to the resilientmouth are substantially opposite the am chor. The cables extend from thepoint of attachment so as to traverse the mouth of the trap and to passthrough apertures in the anchor. The number of cables utilized is notcritical, with one cable being sufficient and two cables beingpreferred. The number of apertures required in the anchor is, of course,dependent upon the number of cables used; e.g., one aperture for onecable and two apertures for two cables. It is to be understood that thecables need not pass necessarily through apertures in the anchor meansbut that they may pass, as an alternative, around and back of the anchorwithout loss of functionality. By having the cables pass throughapertures or around and back of the anchor it is possible to exert apulling force on the cable which will close the mouth of the trap.

The cable ends opposite the attached ends are generally tied to aretrieving line. The retrieving line is utilized by the fisherman forpulling up the trap from the water. As can be seen when the retrievingline is pulled the cables are likewise pulled, thus closing the trap andcapturing any prey which has gone after bait placed therein. Also, dueto the unique design of the trap of this invention, the closing mouth isthe first portion of the trap which rises to the surface of the waterwhen the retrieving line is pulled. This feature is important as itlessens escape from the trap of the prey as such prey generally willseek that portion of the trap which is in the deepest water, i.e., theback portion of the trap furtherest from the mouth.

The cables used for the purpose of this invention can be of natural orsynthetic fiber or can be wire. Attaching the cables to the trap can beaccomplished by the simple mode of tying.

These and other features of the invention contributing satisfaction inuse and economy in manufacture will be more fully understood from thefollowing descriptions of preferred embodiments of the invention whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein identicalnumbers refer to identical parts and in which FIG. I is a perspectiveview of a trap of this invention; FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspectivefragmentary views of the trap of FIG. 1 as used; FIG. 4 is a side planeview of the trap of FIG. 1 in a closed position; and FIG. 5 is afragmentary perspective view detailing the anchor means shown in FIG. 1.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1-3, basket 1 is of resilient material, i.e.,chicken wire and has attached to the bottom thereof and adjacent to themouth a cylindrical anchor 7. Attached to the upper portion of the mouthof basket 1 are cables 9 and 10. Cables 9 and 10 are attached at 3 bytying. Cables 9 and 10 pass through apertures 5 and 6 in anchor 7. Aknot forming a loop 13 joins cables 9 and 10.

FIG. 5 details aperture 5 and anchor 7 through which cable 9 passes. Ascan be seen from this detail, cable 9 can slip easily through aperture 5upon exertion of a pulling force on cable 9.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the trap in operation. It can be seen from thesefigures that force F, exerted upon retrieving line 11 which is connectedto cables 9 and 10 exerts force F and F on the upper portion of themouth of basket 1. The result of these forces is shown in FIG. 3 whichshows the mouth of the basket 1 in a collapsed and closed position.

FIG. 4 shows the trap in a closed position as it is lifted from thewater bed by retrieving line 11.

What is claimed is:

l. A trap comprising:

a wire mesh basket.

4. The trap of claim 1 wherein said cable means is two cables andwherein said aperture means is two apertures. I

5. The trap of claim 1 wherein said anchor means is cylindrical.

6. The trap of claim 1 wherein said anchor means is cylindrical and hasa length substantially equal to the width of said trap, said basketmeans is a wire mesh basket, said cable means is two cables, and saidaperture means is two apertures.

1. A trap comprising: a. a basket means having a mouth of resilient material; b. an anchor means connected to said basket means adjacent to said mouth; and c. a cable means attached to said basket means adjacent to said mouth and substantially opposite said anchor means, said cable means traversing said mouth and passing through aperture means in said anchor means.
 2. The trap of claim 1 wherein said anchor means has a length substantially equal to the width of said trap.
 3. The trap of claim 1 wherein said basket means is a wire mesh basket.
 4. The trap of claim 1 wherein said cable means is two cables and wherein said aperture means is two apertures.
 5. The trap of claim 1 wherein said Anchor means is cylindrical.
 6. The trap of claim 1 wherein said anchor means is cylindrical and has a length substantially equal to the width of said trap, said basket means is a wire mesh basket, said cable means is two cables, and said aperture means is two apertures. 